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Minister urges private schools to charge affordable fees
2006-02-27 09:37:10
By Raymond Kaminyoge
There is a need for private schools to reduce fees so as to make their institutions accessible to wider Tanzanian communities, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Margareth Sitta has said.
Opening Msangani Secondary School parents day in Kibaha District, Coast Region, she said reducing the fees to acceptable proportions, would make it possible for low income earners to afford educating their children in private institutions.
The government was arranging to meet with private schools owners to discuss the possibility of adjusting the school fees, she said.
’Although the running costs of private schools are high, the school fees are comparatively higher in comparison to schools at the neighbouring countries,’ she said.
The government needs the private sector support in education, she said, adding that more schools should be constructed to meet the national demand.
’The private sector contribute a lot in education and we encourage more investors to do so,’ she said.
Statistics shows that a total of 306, 062 Standard Seven candidates passed the examination last year but only 140,055 were selected to join government secondary schools.
’About 165, 007 pupils in the country missed to join schools because of scarcity of government owned secondary schools,’ she said.
’There is a saying: if you think education is expensive, try ignorance, this means ignorance is more expensive,’ Sitta said urging parents to educate their children by all means possible.
Former Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Dr.Pius Ng’wandu and politician Bhoke Munanka attended the meeting.
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